Madame Donna's Summer Fruit Kuchen

Last night I had a bit of trouble choosing a dessert to prepare.  I vacillated between a clafouti and an upside down cake, then between a fruit buckle and a kuchen.  Each of these desserts involves fruit, sometimes nuts or spices and a batter or custard. 

A clafouti is French version of a fruit dessert.  A layer of fruit topped with a batter is served hot, after baking, and sometimes garnished with a dollop of cream.

An upside down cake is made by lining a cake pan with a patterned arrangement of fruit (typically pineapple, but I've used plums, peaches or mangoes too).  The cake batter is poured over the fruit.  When the cake is inverted the ingredients will have combined to make a glaze that covers the cake.

A buckle is a simple cake made with berries, typically.  The fruit is folded into the cake batter but the weight of it causes the cake top to "buckle" forming small pockets of flavor.

A kuchen is a very common coffee cake variation that probably originated in Germany.  It is usually a yeast cake filled with either fruit or cheese.  The kuchen was my dessert choice because of its easy assembly, minimum of ingredients and my lack of patience.

My grandmother made kuchen as a breakfast treat but eventually replaced the cake of yeast with a faster rising baking powder.  This particular version of her kuchen originated near Bialystok, Poland where the Bialy bread was born. 

As with many Eastern European immigrant recipes, this may not be a true kuchen by culinary definition, but it will always be kuchen according to my Grandmother.  This kuchen was perfect after dinner with a couple of scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Madame Donna's Summer Fruit Kuchen

1 cup all-purpose, unbleached flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 stick unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups peeled, sliced nectarines
¼-1/3 cup blueberries
Sliced almonds sprinkled over the top to cover
Cinnamon sugar sprinkled to your liking over the almonds

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Prepare a 9 x 2 inch round pan by spraying with PAM or wiping with a thin layer of vegetable oil.

Combine the butter and sugar, in the large bowl of an electric mixer, and beat on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until completely creamed, light in color and fluffy in texture.  (A hand mixer works just as well too.)

While the butter and sugar cream, mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

When the butter and sugar are creamed until they are light in color, add 1 egg and beat until blended.  Then add the second egg and beat until blended.

Stir in the flour mix just until it is incorporated.  (Do not over mix the batter.)  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the blueberries over the batter. 
Next, arrange the sliced nectarines on top of the batter.  Then sprinkle the almond slivers across the whole cake until it makes a light cover. 
Lastly, sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar until you are happy.

Bake the kuchen until the topping is lightly browned.  Use a toothpick to test for doneness.  In my oven, the baking time is between 35-45 minutes depending on time of year and juiciness of the fruit.

Cool the kuchen before serving.  Garnish with small scoops of vanilla ice cream, if desired.